I Know What You Did 5 Minutes Ago (It Came Through My Facebook Feed)
On the social networking site Facebook, every user's homepage contains a feed which looks something like this:
Sonia L. joined the group People Who Love Jane Austen 9:14 am
Marcus B. is ready for the weekend! 11: 02 am
Grace K. is engaged to Jon H. 5:46 pm
Joy Y. and Mariam G. are friends. 10: 31 pm
The feed gives you information about what actions the people on your friends' list are taking, from changes in relationship status to who else they are talking to on the site. On their home pages, your friends are shown the actions which you take in the Facebook universe as well.
In Web 2.0 where users not only download but upload content, the meaning of privacy has begun to shift so drastically that tweens and teens in particular seem to be leaning in the complete opposite direction. Not only do they share the information that they can't get around sharing, but they eagerly upload content about their lives onto the Web from pictures and videos to opinion pieces and poems. At times there seems as if there is nothing that tweens and teens won't put on the Internet – a cause of anxiety and concern among many parents and guardians who fear that unfiltered access to the lives of their teens and tweens will make them potential targets for Internet predators or cost them future educational and employment opportunities.
This concern is valid; tweens and teens should always be careful about posting too much personal information on the Web, but what constitutes too much? Should teens share about personal moments, such as a first kiss or the loss of a loved one? Is it OK for them to post pictures of themselves at the amusement park or in the school play? The debate between the younger, more wired generation and their parents and guardians about how and what is too much is destined to continue. Finding a balance may be tough but parents can start by setting boundaries with children about what information they can share, and occasionally check over their social networking sites, blogs, and pictures to ensure that they are staying within those boundaries.
